Blocking Agents

During the Bush years, if you dredged really, really hard you could find an insane liberal who would claim they wanted the Iraqi resistance to succeed or for the global jihad to kick into full swing. FYI: This fact in no way validates the fervent desire many high-profile and common Republicans have to see America burn simply so that they can pretend they were right. Let’s face it. Even if everything Obama does proves to be misguided and plain wrong, that does not mean Republicans were right.

We have been brought to this point not by the acts of one man over the last month. It was not been the acts of a small cabal over the last eight years either. For the last thirty years, interests that have been mostly supported by Republicans but have found their supporters in the Democrats as well have pushed us to the brink and now over it. For all its flaws, consumerism has been responsible for the best years of American growth and prosperity. The consumer culture fueled the information age, but the people at the top have forgotten that consumerism does not function without a stable and growing consumer base. No, for the last 30 years the wealthiest Americans have been pushing an agenda of “bite the hand that feeds you.” A massive redistribution of wealth has taken place from the low and middle classes, straight to the top.

Do not fool yourselves, the rich have not gotten richer based on their hard work. Massive tax cuts, deregulation that allowed short-sighted but massively profitable practices, and a culture of acceptance, indeed praise of extreme greed have made the top 1% return to pre-1930 levels. I do not exaggerate. The wealth distribution in this country is at a spread not seen since the robber barons. But the great thing about America is that anyone can work hard and be a member of the rich, right? Wrong. America currently lags behind much of Europe in social mobility. Much maligned Europe, home of the do-nothing socialists, now beats America in fulfilling the American dream. This once great nation has fallen victim to the worst of the traits we tell grade-school children Americans stand so proudly against.

And now, the party that told us for years that to question the President in a time of war was simply un-American are rooting for this country to burn. They don’t have a better plan. Their plan accelerated the end. The Japanese say business is war. To Americans, this conjures images of doing whatever it takes to get the advantage over the competition and striking ruthlessly to dominate the market. This is not the case. Business is war because failure means defeat; defeat of the country, defeat of the culture, defeat of the ideals.